Bottle washing machine



Jan. 13, 1959 A. H. WAKEMAN 2,858,353

BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Filed Aug. 13. 1954 INVENTOR.

BY. J4 who @w a, My WM 2,868,353 Patented Jan. 13, 1959 T he BOTTLE WASHING MACHINE Alden H. Waheman, Lakemills,

Creamery Package Mfg. corporation of Illinois Wis., assignor to The Company, Chicago, llL, a

This invention relates to a bottle washing machine and more particularly to a guide therefor for maintaining bottles, below a given size, in proper alignment within the bottle carrier pockets of the machine when the pockets are transporting the bottles through the various stages of the washing operation.

In the dairy industry, for example, wherein bottles, varying in size from a gallon to a half pint, are in commen use, utilization of a bottle washing machine which will readily accommodate all of these bottle sizes, without considerable modifications being made to the machine itself, is at present not readily available for commercial use. It has been found, however, that a very substantial number of bottles presently being used falls within the range from the half gallon to the pint size. By reason of this fact, therefore, most of the.bottle washing machines presently available are designed to accommodate this half .ga-lon to pint size range of bottles. The effectiveness of these machines in accommodating this range of bottles, however, is oftentimes impaired by breakage of one or more bottles caused by a smaller size bottle becoming accidentally wedged within the carrier pockets and having a portion of the wedged bottle, protruding from the bottlereceiving end of the pocket, striking a stationary or fixed part of the machine as the wedged bottle is being transported by the pocket through the various stages of the washing operation, or having the wedged bottle fail to be ejected from the pocket at the end of the washing cycle. When wedging of a bottle in the pocket occurs, it often results in breakage of one or more bottles which, in turn, causes breakdown or jamming of the machine and necessitates the latter being shut down for relatively long periods of time while the broken bottle pieces are removed from the machine.

In order to retain the bottles within the carrier pockets, it is customary for the tanks of such machine, through which the pockets pass during part of the washing cycle, to have a surface thereof shaped so as to conform substantially to the path followed by the open bottle-receiving end of each pocket, and thereby permit the closed end of the carried bottle to drag along such tank surface. Even though this tank surface functions as a bottle stop, its eifect as a bottle guide for retaining the carried bottles in proper alignment within the pockets is unsatisfactory and does not prevent the problem of bottle breakage aforenoted.

Thus it is the object of this invention to provide a guide for attachment to the tank surface of a bottle washing machine which will eliminate or materially reduce the possibility of the smaller size bottles becoming wedged within the bottle carrier pockets.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a bottle guide which may be readily installed in an existing machine, is effective in operation, and is inexpensive to produce.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claims.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention,

bottle 17 which is being a bottle washing machine is provided comprising a bottle carrier pocket mounted for movement in an arcuate path .from an initial bottle-receiving position, wherein a bottle is received within the pocket with the open end thereof downwardly inclined, to a second position, wherein the open end of the bottle assumes a substantially upright position. Spaced a predetermined distance from the bottie-receiving end of the pocket is an elongated bottle guide which is adapted to maintain all bottles and, in particular, those below a given size in proper alignment within the bottle carrier pocket while the latter is moving from the initial to the second positions. The bottle guide comprises an elongated body mounted in a fixed position on the machine tank and shaped to conform substantially to the arcuate path followed by the bottle-receiving end of the bottle carrier pocket. Mounted on and extending from the guide body in a direction toward the bottlereceiving end of the carrier pocket, is a pair of spaced elongated flanges. The spacing between the flanges is less than the width of the bottle-receiving end of the pocket and decreases gradually toward the end of the guide body adjacent the second pocket position. The spacing between the flanges is adapted to accommodate the closed end of the carried undersize bottle and to prevent substantially lateral deviation or random movement of the bottle from the arcuate path followed by the pocket when moving from the initial position to the second position.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference should be made to the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a bottle washer incorporating the bottle guide and showing in dotted lines the feeder arm of said washer in a changed position.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the bottle guide alone;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the bottle guide taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Pig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

7 Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. l, a bottle washing machine 9 is shown which comprises a housing or tank 10 having a curved end wall 10' within which is mounted a plurality of bottle carrier pockets i1 interconnected to one another to form a continuous chain ill. in this instance, the size of the pockets ll is such as to accommodate up to a half gallon size bottle. However, the bottle guide, which is the subject matter of this invention and will be discussed more fully hereinafter, is not to be limited for use with pockets of this particular size. The bottle pockets 11 are arranged so that the enlarged bottle-receiving ends 12 thereof extend or face outwardly. The opposite ends 13 of the pockets, on the other hand, are restricted or reduced in size so as to accommodate the small open end 14 of the bottle to be cleaned. The end 13 is provided with an opening 13 to permit spraying of cleaning fluids into the interior of the bottle as well as submerging of the carried bottle within suitable cleaning solution, when the pockets reach certain stations of the washing cycle. The pocket chain lit is power-driven and is disposed at least in part within housing or tank .10 as heretofore indicated.

Working in combination with the bottle pockets 11 is a feeder arm 15 which is mounted to pivot about an axis 16 and, when in position A, to receive a soiled fed toward the arm from a load rack 19 by a conveyor belt 18. Once a bottle has been fed onto the arm 15, as shown in Fig; 1, the arm pivots about axis 16 in a counterclockwise direction until the arm reaches a point at which the soiled bottle carried thereby slides off the arm due to gravitational force into the bottle pocket disposed in position A. The arm 15 is actuated by a piston 20, the operation of which is regulated by a timing control circuit, not shown. It is to be noted that the soiled bottle slides into the pocket, positioned at A, with the open end of the bottle down- Wardly inclined. From the initial bottle-receiving position A, the pocket 11, subsequent to receiving a soiled bottle, travels in an arcuate path until it reaches a position B at which point the opened end of the bottle is upright. It is during the time that the pocket is moving from position A to position B that the bottle, if considerably smaller than the size adapted to be normally carried by the pocket, oftentimes becomes accidentally wedged within the pocket with perhaps a portion of the bottle protruding outwardly from the end 12 of the pocket whereupon this protruding bottle end strikes the stationary end wall of the tank and is broken or else causes the machine to become jammed.

To efiectively overcome the difficulty of a bottle becoming wedged within a pocket, a bottle guide 22 has been provided which is adapted to be mounted on the inside surface of the curved end Wall 10 of the tank 10. The guide 22 is shaped to conform substantially to the arcuate path traveled by the bottle-receiving end of the pocket when moving from position A to position B and is formed of an elongated relatively narrow metallic strip secured by bolts or rivets 23 at opposite ends to the end wall 10'. The lower end of the guide is provided with a countersunk opening 21 for receiving the head of the bolt or rivet 23 and thereby prevents any interference with the movement of the closed end of the bottle along the guide. The elongated opposite edges of guide 22, in this instance, are offset to form flanges 24 and 25. The flanges extend in substantially the same dlrection toward the enlarged bottle-receiving end 12 of the pocket 11. The spacing 26 between flanges 24 and 25 is relatively wide at the upper end of the guide but decreases gradually toward the lower end of the guide. However, at all times, the spacing between the flanges is less than the width of the enlarged end 12 of the bottle carrier pocket 11 and is of such size as to accommodate the closed end of an undersized bottle, such, for example, as a pint or half pint size, which might be disposed within the pocket. Once the closed end of the bottle is disposed within the spacing 26, the undersized bottle is drawn into and will remain in proper alignment within the pocket and thus random movement of the bottle within the pocket is substantially prevented with the result that thepossibility of the bottle accidentally becoming wedged within the pocket has been eliminated. When the carrier reaches substantially position B, the undersized bottle is maintained in aligned relation with respect to the carrier and thus permits the pocket to properly carry the undersized bottle through subsequent washing stages. In instances where the soiled bottle fills substantially the interior of the pocket so that wedging of the bottle within the carrier is unlikely or impossible, the closed end of such a bottle will ride along the upper edges of. the flanges 24 and 25 and thus the flanges will not adversely aflfect the disposition of thebottle within the pocket.

All of the commercial bottle washing machines today have several pocket chains, arranged in side-by-side relation, which are operated in synchronous relation with respect to one another; under such circumstances a bottle guide for each pocket chain is provided. The sequence and speed of operation of the pocket chain, the feeder arm, and feeder conveyor for the pocket chain are all. regulated by a time control circuit, not shown.

Thus it will be seen that a bottle guide has been provided which enables a bottle washing machine to readily accommodate bottles Which vary over a relatively wide range of sizes and shapes without the possibility of the undersize or smaller bottles becoming accidentally wedged within the pockets and causing a breakdown of the machine as well as breakage of the bottle. The guide is of simple, yet sturdy construction, may be r adily installed in an existing machine, is effective in operation and is inexpensive to produce.

While a particular embodiment of this invention is shown above, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claims, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle pocket mounted for movement in a tortuous path from an initial bottle-receiving position, wherein a bottle is received therein with the open end thereof downwardly inclined, to a second position, wherein the bottle assumes a position wherein the open end thereof is disposed substantially upright, and a bottle guide for maintaining the carried bottle in proper alignment within said pocket while the latter is moving from the initial to the second positions; said guide comprising a fixed body spaced a predetermined distance from the bottle-receiving end of said pocket while the latter is traveling in said tortuous path, said body being shaped to conform substantially to such tortuous path, and a pair of spaced elongated protuberances of substantially equal height mounted on said body and extending therefrom in a direction toward the bottlereceiving end of said pocket; the surface of each protuberance adjacent said pocket bottle-receiving end, being smooth and substantially noninfiective and providing bearing surfaces for bottles other than such undersize bottles, the height of each protuberance being subtsantially equal and increasing gradually from the body end adjacent the initial body-receiving position to the body end adjacent said second position.

2. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle pocket adapted to normally accommodate a bottle of a predetermined size, mounted for movement in a tortuous path from an initial bottle-receiving position, wherein a bottle is received therein with the open end thereof downwardly inclined, to a second position, wherein the carried bottle assumes a position wherein the open end thereof is disposed substantially upright, and a bottle guide for maintaining a bottle of less than the predetermined size in proper alignment within the pocket while the latter is moving in said tortuous path; said guide comprising a fixed elongated body having the longitudinal axis thereof in substantial alignment with the central axes of said pockets, said body being spaced from the bottle-receiving end of said pocket and shaped to conform substantially to such tortuous path, and a pair of spaced elongated protuberances, between which the end of an undersize bottle adjacent the bottle-receiving end of the pocket is disposed, said protnberances being of substantially equal height and mounted on said body and extending therefrom in a direction toward the bottle-receiving end of the pocket; the surfaces of said protuberances, adjacent said pocket bottle-receiving end, being smooth and substantially noninflective and providing bearing surfaces for bottles other than such undersize bottles.

3. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle pocket mounted for movement in an arcuate path from an initial bottle-receiving position, wherein a bottle is received therein with the open end thereof downwardly inclined, to a second position, wherein the same bottle assumes a position wherein the open end thereof is disposed substantially upright, and a bottle guide for maintaining the carried bottle in proper alignment within said pocket while the latter is moving from the initial to the second positions, said guide comprising a fixed elongated body having the longitudinal axis thereof in substantial alignment with the central axes of said pockets, said body being spaced a pre determined distance from the bottle-receiving end of said pocket while the latter travels said arcuate path, said body being shaped to conform substantially to said arcuate path, and a pair of spaced elongated protuberances of substantially equal height mounted on and being substantially the same length as said body and extending therefrom in a direction toward the bottle-receiving end of said pocket, the spacing between said protuberances decreasing uniformly from the initial pocket position to the second pocket position.

4. In a bottle washing machine, a bottle pocket mounted for movement from an initial bottle-receiving position, wherein a bottle is received therein with the open end thereof downwardly inclined, to a second position, wherein the same bottle assumes a position wherein the open end thereof is disposed substantially upright, and a bottle guide for maintaining the carried bottle in proper alignment within said pocket while the latter travels from the initial to the second positions; said guide comprising a fixed elongated body having a portion thereof always disposed at a predetermined spaced relation with respect to the bottle-receiving end of said pocket, and a pair of flanges formed on the opposing edges of said body and being substantially the same length as said body and extending therefrom in a direction toward the bottle-receiving end of said pocket, the spacing between said flanges being at all times less than the width of said bottle-receiving opening and said spacing decreasing gradually from the body end adjacent the initial pocket position to the body end adjacent said second pocket position; the height of each flange being su stantially equal and increasing gradually from the body end, adjacent the initial pocket position, to the body end, adjacent said second pocket position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

